An action code specifies that the price on a sales order or invoice line is not to be paid by the customer, but instead registered on another general ledger account. It is Sapera's mechanism for controlling who covers an expense: the internal company, a manufacturer, a warranty arrangement or a service agreement.
Typical scenarios include:
Rework. If a piece of work has not been carried out satisfactorily and must be redone, the cost can be posted to an internal account for complaint work rather than sending the bill to the customer.
Subscription service. The customer pays a fixed subscription price, and the service itself is free. The action code ensures that the sales order lines are posted to the service expense account internally instead of to the customer.
Manufacturer and warranty cases. If a warranty case arises on, for example, a caravan, the repair costs can be posted directly to the manufacturer's intercompany account. The product's serial number must be linked to a base item with the correct manufacturer, and the manufacturer must be mapped to a debtor account in the action code. In this way the manufacturer covers the expense.
Cost registration on serial number items. If spare parts and work hours are used to improve a used item before sale, the item's stock value can be increased by the costs incurred. The used-goods VAT calculation is then based on the profit (sales price minus the increased cost price).
Open Financial and go to Setup, and below it Action codes. You now see a list of all action codes in the system.
If you cannot see the menu item, you most likely do not have permission for it. Contact support.
The list shows all existing action codes with the columns Display name, Account settings, Account, Without VAT and Is internal cost only. Double-click a line to open editing directly.
New (+ icon). Creates a new action code. Opens the edit form.
Edit (pencil icon). Opens the selected action code for editing. The button is only active when a line is selected.
Delete (cross icon). Deletes the selected action code. The button is only active when a line is selected.
Help. Opens this article directly from the overview.
Click + to create a new action code, or select an existing one and click Edit (or double-click). The edit form contains all fields for the relevant action code as well as a table for manufacturer/customer links. Finish with Save; the changes are saved and the form closes. Click Cancel (new action code) or Close (existing) to leave without saving.
The Help icon in the edit form likewise links to this article.
System name: An internal, unique name that identifies the action code in Sapera. The field is free text without spaces or special characters — examples: `intern_omkostning` or `garanti_lmc`. The system name can only be specified at creation and is locked afterwards, as it is used as a key in integrations and setups.
Display name: The name users see in the selection lists throughout the system. Choose a descriptive name such as "Rework" or "New vehicle warranty".
Account settings: Determines which general ledger account the line amount is registered on. There are five choices:
Use action code account — The sales price is posted directly to the account you specify in the field Account below. This is the simplest choice and requires that the account is filled in.
Use serial number item's supplier action code account — Typically used for warranty repairs. It is not the item on the order line that determines the manufacturer, but rather the serial number item in the "Regarding serial number" field on the sales order or invoice. That is, the item is for repair, not for sale. The manufacturer must be set up on the base product, and the manufacturer must have a linked customer debtor account in the action code via the table below.
Use item's supplier action code account — As above, but the manufacturer is determined by the serial number items on the order lines themselves (i.e. it is a sale). Suitable for situations where items are sold and the warranty obligation follows the item.
Cost (related serial number item) — Registers the cost on the serial number item in the "Regarding serial number" field on the order, thereby increasing the item's stock value. Typically used for improvement work on one specific serial number item. The account used is the stock receipt account from the base product's category setup.
Cost (line serial number items) — Registers the cost on the serial number items that are lines on the order itself (rather than the "Re. serial number" field). Suitable, for example, for freight costs such as truck rental for transporting a caravan, where the freight line is to increase the stock value for the items on the other order lines.
Account: The general ledger account the amount is posted to. The field is only visible and required when Account settings is set to Use action code account. In the other modes the account is controlled by the manufacturer/supplier setup or the stock category setup, and the field is therefore greyed out.
Use cost price: Checkbox. When checked, the cost price is used as the amount basis for the registration instead of the sales price. Relevant for products or services where the cost price is the correct basis for posting.
Without VAT: Checkbox. When checked, the amount is registered excl. VAT. Useful for internal cost registration and other situations where VAT is not relevant.
Is internal cost only: Checkbox. Specifies that the action code is used exclusively for internal costs that do not affect the customer's payment. The field is only active when Account settings is set to Cost (related serial number item); in all other modes it is greyed out and automatically deselected.
Should be printed on sales order: Checkbox. Controls whether lines with this action code are shown when the sales order is printed or exported. Check if the action code line is to appear on the printed document.
Should be printed on invoice: Checkbox. Controls whether lines with this action code are shown on the printed or sent invoice. Check if the line is to appear on the invoice to the customer.
At the bottom of the edit form is a table with the columns Manufacturer and Customer. The table is relevant when Account settings is set to one of the two manufacturer-based modes. Each row links one manufacturer (supplier) to one debtor account (customer), and it is this account that is used as the posting account for lines with the action code.
Add (+ icon). Opens the dialog for creating a new manufacturer/customer link.
Edit (pencil icon). Opens the dialog for the selected row. The button is only active when a row is selected.
Delete (cross icon). Deletes the selected row. The button is only active when a row is selected.
Double-clicking an existing row also opens editing.
The dialog contains two required fields:
Manufacturer: Supplier search field (autocomplete). Search by name to find and select the desired manufacturer. Each manufacturer can only appear once per action code.
Customer: Customer search field (autocomplete). Specifies the debtor account the cost is posted to when the manufacturer matches. Typically an intercompany account representing the manufacturer as a debtor is used.
Save the dialog with Save; both fields are required and the form cannot be saved without valid values in both.
Action codes are a central setup type that is referenced from several places in Sapera.
Sales order lines and invoice lines. The primary use is per line. On an open sales order or invoice you can change the action code for a specific line via the button Edit action code in the line grid. It is possible to have different action codes on different lines on the same order.
Order types. In the setup of sales order types a default action code can be specified. This action code is automatically suggested as the default value on all new orders created with the relevant order type, thereby saving the user from manually having to select an action code on each order.
Sales subscriptions. A subscription agreement has two action code fields: one for the action code that applies to the subscription in general, and one for "Action code to be used when new lines are added manually". The latter field controls which action code new lines are automatically assigned when they are added to a running subscription.
Manufacturer/customer settings on other action codes. An action code's manufacturer/customer table can reference existing actors (suppliers and customers). These links are necessary for warranty flows and intercompany postings to work correctly.
If you have any questions, you are welcome to contact support.
Want to know more?
Read more in these related articles:
Product settings
Full guide to the "Edit product settings" dialog — all fields, conditional sections and sub-panels explained with Danish captions.
Product fields
Create and manage custom product fields (attributes) that can be linked to product templates and thereby inherited by products.
Product categories
Product categories in Financial are used to organize products and control posting, VAT, templates, stock and behavior at sale and purchase. Here the general ledger accounts, product templates, unit types and trade terms that products in the category inherit automatically are defined.
